Naruto 508 Breakdown: Suicide just turned cool. Well, say bye-bye to all the emos in your school. Demotivational poster et debate du officiale inclusive. Yea, so what my French fails. I speak in the first language of Awesome! 8)

Lord Gaigai be making your eyes bleed. X__X

Jo! Greetings to you gnarly dudes and dudettes (and the occasional in-between) I are once again back from the wonderland known as Necropolis, where I met Tom Hanks trying to do nasty things to Peter’s dead body with the excuse that he was looking for anti-matter that was going to destroy the Vatican (yea, like I haven’t heard that one before), to give you this week’s compulsory Naruto break-to the-down.

Now, before I start thinking of what next to say which will inevitably lead to my further procrastinating the making of this already very late write-up, why don’t we get this party started?

*slips a record through the jukebox*

Looking badass for the splash...FAIL.

From the title alone, anyone could easily see where this chapter was going before they started reading. It seemed our suspicions from the last chapter had been confirmed. Kisame was, in fact, going to die. But how?

Apparently, in a manner truly “befitting a shinobi.” And if nothing else, Kisame has earned his respect this past chapter. So in the end, all of this new-found adoration coming his way can easily be said to be well deserved.

I liked this chapter for one reason. And if you looked close enough, you would instantly notice it was bursting with a Kishi-esque poetic ambiance spanning from the times past to present day.

Bring it all together, and at the 17th page, I’m left thinking “Monsieur Masashi dun did it again.”

So now, Kisame can very well take a crap on the splash page and still be considered badass…well, kind of. >_>

I see Kubo Tite has taught you well.

But we’ll get right to all of that sometime in later on. Right now, there are one or two things I want to speak about in respect to this chapter.

One of its most prominent features was the Water Prison technique made use of by Kisame in two separate scenarios. If your memory isn’t a total whore and it still serves you well, you will remember when this jutsu was introduced in the Narutoverse; that being during Team 7’s first mission.

First, when Zabuza suckered Kakashi into the Prison, all movement was completely occluded. The same basic concept carried through to when Gai’s little kiddies were trapped by Kisame’s clones. The water was effectively tough as steel, making mobility something of an impossibility.

However, as I am sure you must have noticed, this chapter presented things a little differently…

So this is what Orochimaru's experiments really turned Yamato into...

An inconsistency?

Well, in all fairness, this Water Prisons used in this chapter were lacking in what arguably can be described as the jutsu’s principal feature, which also served as its major drawback.

In all previous instances in which the Water Prison was used, the “warden” fisted the prisoner from the outside would have his arm inside of the prison, possibly feeding it with chakra, and giving it its toughness. Given the absence of this basic characteristic, it’s safe to owe the lack of adequate hardness to a lack of adequate stimulation.

Ok, I seriously need to stop with all these dirty innuendos. >_>

Epic win.

All the while the first Prison was used on Kisame himself, Naruto was caught doing something rather interesting.

Get in line, fool!

Prepping a jutsu or praying for his life against Kisame’s impending Spirit Bomb?

When it comes to ninjutsu, Naruto’s arsenal is somewhat limited. And as far as we all know, none of his current techniques (at least relevant to the situation he was in) requires that he performs hand sealing that involves clapping. So the real question here is: what jutsu was Naruto getting ready to use? I don’t suppose he was going to send projectile fart into Kisame’s water bubble. That would have been awesome, though.

Call me crazy, but I’m starting to think this is a foreshadowing of something new. I don’t believe it could have been done just in passing or possibly even some kind of sick, mind-twisting, inadvertent mistake, especially since it was displayed twice; and quite patently, too.

I’m honestly hoping it could be some independent use of his wind-type chakra, as opposed to an incorporation of it into an already existent technique.

Of course, since the Kyuubi has been taken care of, it could well be yet another of the aftereffects of that happening.

I’ll be waiting to see if Naruto also got a magical tiara that turns him from a purdy, blond schoolgirl fighting evil by moonlight, winning love by daylight.

He’ll be the one named Sailor Konoha!

Awwwww...;____;

“I see you have no intention of telling me where you hid the Rinnegan… Nagato.”

—Madara (Manga Stream)

I noticed some confusion and decided to try and clear the air a bit. I apologize in advance, because at this point, it seems I’m going to have to let out a little of my inner Grammar Nazi, since I know no other way of explaining this.

Now, the above quotation is what I would refer to as an ambiguous statement, and this can mostly be blamed on the last menacing word, “Nagato.” In other words, this statement can be interpreted in more than one way. In truth, almost every statement we make is ambiguous, but the most eminent fighter of such is ‘context’, which inherently cancels out all possible unnecessary interpretations.

In this case, however, the context is almost nonexistent. And so what do we do?

We cancel out the implausibles ourselves, of course! *picks up shanking knife and dons hockey mask*

It was either this or I had her sing "Paper Planes," but no one put the smackdown on M.I.A. Well, except maybe Eminen, who would tie her to a bed and set the house on fire.

In the first place, the word “Nagato” at the end of that sentence is subject to confusion because it can be seen in two distinct lights, one of which having branches.

On the one hand, it can be seen as the second person of this particular dialogue, that being the one being spoken directly to. In that case, it could be one of two scenarios.

Either: In his saying this, Madara is talking directly to Nagato. However, this makes no sense, since he is obviously talking to Konan and not Nagato. *stabs this assumption square in the head and lets out evil laugh* Cancelled.

Or: Madara was using a figure of speech known as “apostrophe.” In this case, Madara would be directing his speech at an absent or abstract being as if they were present at the time. This could have worked, but his sentence was in the present tense. But Nagato is dead. Besides, it was far too direct to have worked anyway when he says “. . . telling me where you hid.” A more suitable setting would be if he said something more along the lines of “I see you had no intention of allowing me the Rinnegan…Nagato.” Well, unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. *appears in “apostrophe’s” home on a dark, stormy night* *kills its wife, “allusion,” and their two children, “simile” and “metaphor” before coming for his head* Cancelled.

Muajajajajaja!! 😈

Now, on the other hand (and this one is very simple) Madara could have meant the word, “Nagato” as a noun in apposition to “Rinnegan,” in which case, it serves only as a modifier that defines “Rinnegan.” It’s kind of like saying “The psycho, Captain Pickles, went out on a figure of speech killing spree.” In this case, “Captain Pickles” is in apposition to “the psycho,” because it defines who that psycho is, therefore modifying its meaning.

On a side note, I wonder why it looks like Konan is still wearing her Akatsuki robe. Ten bucks says it’s the one that was on Yahiko’s corpse. Twenty bucks says that’s not the only piece of clothing she stripped off of him. >_>

I agree. You already have enough fangirls, Ita--*get's pwned by Amateratsu* X__X

I don’t know about you, but I think it’s about time we got to the real subject of this chapter. And that, of course, can only be Kisame. If it hasn’t been clear enough that I’ve come to admire him more as a person and as a ninja, well I am about to make it a whole lot clearer.

The inconspicuous irony of his story is what most intrigues me. It hit me all at once when Naruto said what he did immediately following Kisame’s fade to black.

He mercilessly slaughters his own comrades for a cause he deems excusable: for the sake of his mission. And so, slowly, he paints his portrait as a ruthless brute whose very mates are no less expendable than the dozens of throwing stars in shinobi stash; as long as it will secure the mission on which he was sent. And that is what everyone believed. That is what he believed.

Errr...awww? X__X

In further solidification of his proclaimed cold-bloodedness is the illustration of sharks’ intrauterine cannibalism, with which he confirms it all, indirectly saying “I will kill you as my comrade for the sake of myself.”

But Itachi says something in response. And as with one of those things you never allow a second thought, so I’m sure it was for Kisame; at least not until the moment when it proved so very true.

“We don’t know who we truly are until the moment before our deaths. As death comes to embrace you, you will realize what you are.”

Well, in the end, as death faced him with its arms wide open, here he is not killing his companions for himself, but killing himself for his companions. And all of this in a last ditch effort to ensure his mission is a success. It’s an irony that yet somehow still conforms to set standards, which makes it wholly one big irony in and of itself.

Such is the synonymous opposite of the paradox now known as the late Hishigaki Kisame.

“It seems that in the end, [he’s] not so terrible after all.”

BUBBLITION CONTEST

Another great job this week, guys! Unfortunately, there still had to be a cut. Then I read every entry over and over and couldn’t bring myself to rank them, because they all made me LOL and pretty much the same way, too. So I guess you can say almost everyone else comes in at second place.

But in the end is an epic win from Bombat1994. And it’s not just because I originally planned on using this reference before deciding on turning the picture into the Bubblition. It’s just awesome like that.

Félicitations, jo! 🙂

DEBATE DU OFFICIALE

Well, I say you guys already have something going, o why not just keep on rollin’ with that?

*poofs off before anyone realizes this is just another big cop out…did I just say that out loud?*

70 Responses to “Naruto 508 Breakdown: Suicide just turned cool. Well, say bye-bye to all the emos in your school. Demotivational poster et debate du officiale inclusive. Yea, so what my French fails. I speak in the first language of Awesome! 8)”

Kisame will always be Itachi’s little blue prostitute to me 🙂 Especially since he lost to Maito Gai in uno chapter by mistaking blue sweat for chakra from a guy that doesn’t use his ninjutsu. Well now we know Kisame would fail at being a sensor haha. I’ll admit Kisame’s booby-trapped scroll was baller though.

@Darks – yeah, it’s pretty unusual, but most ninjas are able to sense unusual chakra or immense amounts, like the kyuubi chakra or the chakra used for the rasenshuriken or when it’s visible during Naruto’s power-ups back before the time skip. There are usually regular characters that are like “what chakra!!” and such. I could be wrong, but I’ve operated under that understanding, so it was weird for me to see Kisame confuse glowing blue sweat (not that it would be expected of course) and chakra, especially since he seems decently knowledgeable about chakra when talking to Naruto and Bee.

@urban – not necessarily weird. I mean, all shinobi have chakra. If anyone in the Narutoverse was to see a glowing blue aura around someone, the most logical assumption to make is that it is chakra. Remember, Kisame really doesn’t know that much about Gai other than that he is skilled in taijutsu.

And also, I don’t see Kisame of all ninja going “what chakra!” considering how monstrous his own is. ^_^

Konan is more powerful than I thought… She’s pwning Madara!*high fives kisu*

********Spoiler starts HERE********

Naruto 509 – The Bridge to Peace

Madara listens to Konan’s reasons for her betrayal (of Akatsuki). He says he didn’t expect that Naruto was worth so much.

Konan says hostilely, “Because he is the light, and holds the flower of hope for everyone.”
Madara: “The fact that you are still wearing those clothes (Akatsuki uniform) despite fighting me tells me that you still cling to Akatsuki.”

Konan: “Akatsuki was created by Yahiko, the red clouds on their uniform symbolise the rain of blood that fell during war in Amegakure, and just because you came aboard Akatsuki, it doesn’t make it yours – it’s our symbol of justice”

Konan continues: “The Rinnegan was bestowed upon Nagato of Amegakure, it is not yours, but his eyes are this country’s, and this village’s treasure”
Madara lets Konan’s paper shuriken pass through his body, “This will be the end, so I’ll tell you”
“The one who induced Yahiko to set up the Akatsuki was me. The one who gave Nagato the Rinnegan was also me. That’s why it’s only right to ask for them to be returned to me”
The two begin their battle as Konan says that if Madara were to get his hands on it, all sorts of things would happen.

Konan doesn’t let hi materialised body escape by attacking with a large number of paper attacks.
Madara notices that she has something planned and decides to take her on, trying to suck Konan up when he has a chance.
However Konan has mixed some exploding tags among the paper, intending to kill the both of them.

-flashback starts-
When Akatsuki was founded? Konan reports to Yahiko that their members have been defeated.
Yahiko and Nagato are both injured and bandaged.
There are numerous other minor members present apart from Yahiko, Nagato and Konan.
Nagato says that he will go out to recce in the afternoon, but Yahiko says “I’ll go, so rest, don’t strain yourself”
He continues, “Nagato is pivotal to Akatsuki and is the man who will change the world. So just give all your worries to Nagato”
Konan: “The same goes for you, everyone loves you and thus follows you, just like with Nagato”
A while later, Yahiko responds “He is the man who will become the bridge to peace. My role is to become a pillar of support to that bridge”

Yahiko murmurs, “This country is still crying, and I now want to save this country which I once hated for always crying, that’s how I feel deep down. I just can’t leave this country alone because it’s a crybaby just like me,” and he leaves.
Konan, Nagato and the other members see him off, Nagato says, “The one who will be the bridge to peace is him, his very purpose will form the bridge”

“We’ll believe in Yahiko, let’s go everyone!” he commands, before following after Yahiko.
The flashback ends with Konan’s monologue of determination “I will become the pillar of support to the two bridges formed by Yahiko and Nagato”
The exploded paper and cloth are scattered about. We see a little of Madara’s face as his mask has broken. He has also lost his right arm.

He says to Konan who is right before him, seemingly not with as many injuries, “I underestimated you, after all you were also once a member of Akatsuki.”
“You intended to explode the both of us, but thanks to the fact that I sucked in a little of the explosion, both of us are safe”

In response to Madara’s question if she’s exhausted her secret plans, Konan says that she has a question for Madara. “Do you know why you were betrayed by us?”
Madara: Who knows?

Konan uses secret arts as she yells “You are darkness, a flower can only wilt in a world without light!”
The lake? sea? all becomes paper, and spreads just like the Red Sea did for Moses, and she tries to drop Madara into it… next chapter!
A secret art to protect Nagato… Seal him into a sea of paper!!

The only question left unanswered is why did he have long(er) hair when he played Mizukage. Was it a wig? Was it to keep Zetsu from thinking he was dead so Zetsu wouldn’t eat him? Why Tobi? Why? I NEED to know!

About “Madara” giving Nagato the Rinnegan: He’s probably talking about the Uchiha being related to the Sage of Six Paths and the Sharingan to the Rinnegan. I think it’s impossible for him to have actually given it to Nagato.

By the way, doesn’t Konan know that Tobi can teleport miles away, far from the sea of paper?!? She has to close him in there before he reacts or maybe she has a plan to prevent him from escaping.

Lol in the flashback yahiko talks about sector 7, was I the only one who thought about final fantasy 7. Sorry just made me laugh when I saw it, and I hope konan doesn’t die, and because of this fight she’s more powerful than the minato namikaze himself. It’s official konan is mega-ultra-super powerful!

Wow. Konan is so much more powerful than even I imagined. I mean, some people underestimated her, but I always thought she might be strong if she was in Akatsuki, but this???

I mean, she’s creating an entire ocean of paper and she is now on the very short list of people who have ever caused severe damage to Tobi.

I guess she deserved her partnership with Pein after all, with that much power. It actually makes me wonder, if Naruto had chosen to try and kill Nagato instead, if he would have even been able to get past Konan as exhausted as he was, now that she is showing us how cool she is.

The closing lines say “Sealed within an ocean of paper. A secret technique protects Nagato.”

Judging by those words, it sounds like it may be a sealing technique of some kind, perhaps something that can actually prevent Tobi from teleporting or using his chakra. Of course, it stands to reason whether or not it would actually be succesful and seeing as how Madara is the main villain here, plot no jutsu will (unfortunately) most probably save him.

I know he will survive, in the end, but I just hope Konan doesn’t die. T__T

@tenrai konan and first hokages wife are the most powerful, is it me or should like amegakure have a kage? The last two leaders have well been stronger than every kage combined and konan who could probably beat most of the kages, somebody try and prove me wrong saying which kage she couldn’t beat

Just like you, I’m sure he will survive and I wonder how he will avoid death. Maybe Sasuke will come and save him with his new Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan? If he does, I think he’ll burn everything with Amaterasu, but Konan will avoid it and go to ask Naruto for help.

A, the Fourth Raikage. He’s extremely fast and is extremely strong both in Taijutsu and Ninjutsu.

Onoki, the Third Tsuchikage. His Dust Release can reduce anything to dust. He can also levitate and he’s very old. Old = strong in Naruto, just think of the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo and Chiyo.

I think she can beat Tsunade and maybe Gaara.

I think Konan is very strong too, but I don’t think she’s stronger than the current Kages.

I hope we will see more of Konan and of her abilities. Maybe she has mastered 1 or 2 elements. She is a pupil of Jiraiya, companion of Yahiko and Nagato and God’s Angel, after all. 😀

You see, the key factor in what Konan was able to do was based on information. she knew when madara was vulnerable and caught him off guard with the bad ass explosive tag strategy. Minato had no idea what madara could do, but still pwned him for a bit.

I remember when people said no female character could be a bad ass in Naruto. I believe Kishi just showed his not completely sexist, and even had Madara admit her awesomeness. btw, I would like to see a Konan vs. Gaara fight

If madara didn’t have such complete hax, he’d be dead a million times over. I’m just glad you can see he really has no talent when compared to the big guns he pisses off. He’s caught off guard so many times, and even with his insane eye hax, gets hurt. In this case, severely. This man is truly just a sloppy ninja with an incredible sharingan. Any one think otherwise?

Konan is indeed a fearsome woman but I don’t think she’d be able to beat Minato or the Fourth Raikage. Minato can Hiraishin his way out of any trouble and the Fourth Hokage seems to be almost invincible with his Raiton no Yoroi.
She wouldn’t stand out between the 5 kages, that’s for sure.

I always thought Konan would turn Amegakure into the ninja village of the Land of…
What country is Amegakure in exactly?
Anyways, I assumed she’d become what Gaara already is. Kage of her country and in an alliance with Konoha.

Does anyone else have an issue with Madara’s discourse in this chapter? Its just strange. he is talking like tobi again, in a joking / childish tone. If you read the way he speaks after he reveals himself as madara till now i think you guys mite notice it too. or i mite be reading too far into this. This would make sense if “madara” was more then one person.

“If madara didn’t have such complete hax, he’d be dead a million times over. I’m just glad you can see he really has no talent when compared to the big guns he pisses off. He’s caught off guard so many times, and even with his insane eye hax, gets hurt. In this case, severely. This man is truly just a sloppy ninja with an incredible sharingan. Any one think otherwise?”

I told Madara when I met him on a strange Space station in orbit that his overconfidence was his weakness.
He told me my fate in my friends was mine. So I chopped of my fathers hand and kicked Madara down a shaft. True story. I believe they made a movie about it.

Seriously though, Madara is just like the Emperor. The Emperor ‘gave’ the alliance the location of the shield generator thinking there was no way they’d be able to destroy it.
Madara is just like that. He’s so confident about his abilities that he lets his guard down or allows attacks even when fighting powerful opponents.

Sorry for double post, @dragon Well konan is made of paper she could just wrap around him and explode, even if he’s quick he wouldn’t be able to get out of it. Actually not even minato could get out of it unless he had a hiraishin seal nearby. Pretty much when konan does the suffocation thing or explosion only like time/space jutsu can save you

if it really does turn out that madara gave nagato the rinnegan, i will b sad because that would mean that kishi plagiarized the “plagiarizer” where aizen made ichigo strong, it would suck if nagato made naruto strong by planning everything

Well, we already know he didn´t. Nagato didn´t give Naruto any kind of power. He made Naruto experience pain and understand hatred, that helped Naruto to grow as a character. I can’t say anything about the Bleach reference though, I haven’t read Bleach. I’ve only heard about it.

“I vote Konan for best Kunoichi (female ninja) ever. @__@

Well that’s not a very hard competition to win 😛 ”

Now, now. I bet Tenten could put up quite a fight. We just need to poke her with a stick enough. ^__^
Seriously though, Mei seems pretty awesome too. Her boil jutsu burned through the bones of Susano’o. She’s got two!! Kekkei Genkai’s and she’s got two!!… Uhmm…. Yeah,… She’s from the Hidden Mist (free awesome points) and she can cure headaches instantly… Or that could have been the result of Chōjūrō’s view when she ‘cured’ him.

1. He founded Akatsuki
2. His faction was a match for Hanzo’s
3. Hanzo had to use underhanded methods to try to kill him. Hanzo’s the man that toyed with the Sanin, so he should be able to fight anyone in a one-on-one fight, but instead he chose to force Yahiko to kill himself
4. Akatsuki followed him because they thought he could change the world.

Awesome chapter! Konan is quickly becoming my favorite Kunoichi!! I didn’t have one previously cuz all other females in Naruto suck, in both ability and personality, except Kushina. Kushina is awesome too. I mean Mei Terumi is powerful, but she’s a predator.. *shivers*

@omar – “i meant madara making naruto and nagato powerful by planning everything” – Madara didn’t have anything to do with making Naruto powerful. Naruto is the unexpected. Naruto is actually the embodiment of Madara’s underestimation of Minato. Madara showed his hand too early to none other than Minato, and Minato reacted immediately by sealing the Kyuubi and his and Kushina’s chakras into Naruto, so he could gain control over the Kyuubi and learn under Jiraiya. Naruto was never part of Madara’s plan. That’s the point of this story. The evil villian has a grand master plan, but unknown to him a hero rises out of nowhere to contest the villian prepared by the sacrifices of his family.

@Tenrai – you have my vote, Konan is baller. Now, I really, really hope she doesn’t die. We still don’t know much about her abilities though, so I’m excited to see what else she’s got!

@minatotheyellowflash – I agree that she is kage level, but I don’t think she can just beat every Kage one-on-one. I still think Minato was leagues beyond her (I have Pein and Minato in the same tier, and that tier has very, very few peers). I think most of the other kages have a good chance at beating her. Her ability is alot like Gaara’s sand, as long as you can outmaneuver it like Deidara did or Rock Lee or Sasuke did, then you can win. The paper can only move so fast. If you move faster (like the 4th Raikage; if he can outmaneuver Amaterasu, he can outmaneuver paper) you can win. That being said, we’ve only seen two attacks and one half-attack from Konan… we really don’t know anything about her abilities still.

@kisu – I agree! Jiraiya has taught Nagato, Minato, Naruto, Konan and Yahiko, all of whom are badass (Yahiko more in personality since we don’t know what he could do). I vote him best sensei in the Narutoverse! Seriously though, his accomplished students just reflect on what an awesome ninja he was. Here’s to Jiraiya.

@shadowaid and kisu – I don’t think we know enough about Yahiko to derive how strong he was. He was probably above average, but probably not kage level. He was a great leader, which Konan’s flashback proves (his speech was very very cool). His attributes as a great leader, not as a great ninja, are the answer to everything on your list Kisu. I am a huge fan of Yahiko now, but for his attitude not his potential ability as a ninja.

@red and ajd – yeah, madara is wayyy overconfident, and relies too heavily on his sharingan. But that’s the story of everyone in the Uchiha clan (besides Itachi). All Uchiha rely too heavily on their sharingan, and are born overconfident due to their inheritance. Sasuke shows the same overconfidence, especially during the Kage Summit arc. This is partially why, in my opinion, no Uchiha has become Hokage. They are born with a natural advantage, are virtually guaranteed to be an elite ninja, and due to that they become complacent in their ability. No Uchiha, to my knowledge, had the drive and ingenuity of a Minato, who created original A-Rank and S-Rank techniques, or had a mastery of multiple forms of jutsu like Hiruzen. They all get a Sharingan, and some Fire Jutsu, and fail to make that step from elite ninja to legend. Look at all the legends coming out of Konoha. The First, Second, Third and 4th Hokages, The Three Sannin, Konoha’s White Fang. None of them had the sharingan. The only Uchiha I’d add to that list are Itachi, who didn’t show that overconfidence/complacency – he was an excellent all around ninja, and Madara who has eye hax.

From the Above link we see a Mask which is new and the right arm being adjusted or replaced. Now this can just be said that he was replacing his Arm from being infected by Aburame clan but he speaks of the Rinnegan so he already has it. so to me this previous issue is a Backstory on what happened already.

So Konans already dead and Tobi has Sasukes and Nagatos Eyes, Whats Next I Wonder.

And thinking about this Issue can you say its possible that Nagato has one Eye and that when Tobi said he gave the Rinnegan to Nagato could he be implying that with his Zetsu and Jutsu he grew back Nagato’s other Eye. And in doing so Nagato learns the Shapeshift Jutsu and possibly how to grow eyes like Zetsu that could explain how his Zombie puppets had his Eyes and so on and why Tobi says he gave him the Rinnegan.

what is it with akatsuki and suicide just a chapter after kisame committed suicide konan tries it >.<
anyways i thought it was pretty lame for tobi not beeing able to forsee konans paper explosion, hell deidera could ve done better.
I thought the chapter was dragged out quite a bit.
And madara giving nagato his rinnegan yeh well i just dont know.
Overall i hope konan wont die but i dont like the odds.

@kisu – no, I don’t think any of them, Yahiko, Nagato, or Konan, were kage level. They were still young and improving at a normal rate. Nagato was probably the closest to kage level at the time of Yahiko’s death, but even then I don’t think he was there yet. Also, I imagine Yahiko’s faction to be primarily a rag-tag band of young ninjas who grouped together under Yahiko’s strong leadership to make Amegakure a better place to live, and Akatsuki grew from there, so Yahiko didn’t need to be kage level to lead the group. I’m not saying Yahiko was weak, I just think he was probably jounin level, not kage level, at the time of his death. Had he not died so early, he might have become Kage level one day.

Deidara: Blew himself up.
Sasori: As Chiyo suggested, he let her last attack hit him. AKA suicide.
Itachi: He planned his own death from the start.
Kisame: Sharky suicide no jutsu.
Konan: She tried to blow herself up.
Nagato: Resurrection suicide no jutsu.
Yahiko: The original leader set the example by impaling himself. Aka, suicide.
Zetsu: Let himself get ‘killed’ by the Raikage and later by Bee and the Raikage.
Hidan: He was always trying to kill himself. He just never succeeded. Lol!

Actually, the only Akatsuki member that didn’t seem suicidal, was Kakuzu. I guess he just didn’t know who to give all his money to in his will. T__T

Other than that, we still have yet to see how Madara and Zetsu will actually die (Permanently), so for all we know, those might involve suicides as well.